The project of the Ecological Folk High School (EFHS) as an innovative method of young adult education is implemented by the Ecological and Cultural Association "ZIARNO". The idea of the Folk High School has been tried in Grzybów since 2001, when the first Folk High School courses were offered mainly for local women. Now the target group is young people interested in organic farming, food processing, rural handicraft, culture and ecology.

The goal of the project is the creation of an Ecological Folk High School in Grzybów, which is situated in the Mazovia voivodeship in Poland, as a model initiative of life-education. It includes:

The development and testing of a curriculum through two pilot courses of two years duration for two groups of young students (together circa 40 people).

The improvement of existing infrastructure: construction of a new workshop house and a dormitory.

The project started in February 2014 and will last until January 2018.

The first course started in September 2015 and lasted until August 2017. A detailed work-plan can be found HERE.

Our students take part in 104 days of more theoretical part: lectures, workshops, presentations and around 14 months of practice in 17 diverse farms from all over Poland. Specific descriptions of the farms can be found HERE.

The total budget of the Velux grant for the project is 985 000€ and covers costs of the construction of the new building, the renovation of the old buildings, both 2-year courses and promotional events.

The Ecological Folk High School in Grzybów is also supported by the EU programme Erasmus+ through which we are implenting the Building Key Competences and Folkhighschool Pedagogy in XXI Europe project. Read more HERE.